Best Secret Restaurants in Lisbon

The Best Secret Restaurants in Lisbon is a small collection of privately held, individual establishments that still operate in the same way in which they were conceived 50, 60, 70 or more years ago. These restaurants provide you and insight into the best Portuguese traditional gastronomy that Lisbon has to offer. Away from the crowds where only the neighbourhood provides its customer base.

Located in the Mouraria neighborhood—the birthplace of fado—this restaurant is a prime pick for sampling traditional Portuguese food. The codfish, or bacalhau, is a must here. It is served with plenty of bread to clean your plate. In the style of...

A small tasca (very simple and typical restaurant), with four or five daily dishes at unbeatable prices. It’s a good place to go if you are visiting Alfama neighborhood. Very close to the Flea Market, Pantheon and the beautiful Rua dos Remédios....

Adequately named after the owner’s father extra matrimonial frolicking : Cornos translates into horns in Portuguese, this place is so hidden that only a few of the locals know about it. The menu basically consists of charcoal grilled fish and...

Outside of the touristic centre of Lisbon, Tasquinha do Lagarto, is pinnacle of honest Portuguese cuisine within a capital full of “fashionable” insipid food concepts. The lack of any international notoriety does not seem to bother clients who are...

Forget about Cervejaria Ramiro, its messy crowds and nightmare 2h queues. The new seafood hotspot in Lisbon in Marisqueira Nunes. A place where the tablecloth is not discardable and orders can be made at regular voice decibels. Smack in the middle...

Nested in the maze of hippy chic Principe Real neighbourhood and a stone’s throw away from the Portuguese Parliament, Cantinho Lusitano is Lisbon’s epiphany of the Portuguese Petiscos (small eats) and good wine, hole in the wall restaurant. It is...

If you want to experience authentic Lisbon this is the place. Family run, this tiny restaurant (just seven tables) has been open for 40 years and the décor has not changed in that time. The food is basic and unpretentious with dishes like monkfish...

The name makes justice to the location of this restaurant, as it is literally at the end of the river walk on the other side of the Tagus. To get to the restaurant you will have to cross the river on the commuter ferry from Cais do Sodre (Lisbon...

A Merendinha do Arco by the Rossio Arch is just that place and it has become one my favourite “Tascas” – Portuguese local eateries - that serves the best char grilled cutlass fish (peixe espada) and red bean rice that I have ever eaten. It’s a...